


Stand in the Sun

by AikoIsari



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Trans Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Coming of Age, Friendship, Gen, Pokemon Journey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-22
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-02-18 10:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2344706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AikoIsari/pseuds/AikoIsari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The difference between survival and life is in the choices you make." For Ash, that's the simple reality of it all. When she's given a strange Charmander, she can stay home, or go outside. To follow the path her dreams want her to take, she chooses to go. And that's the fun part of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. where does the rain fall?

**Author's Note:**

> Well then, this is going to be fun. This is a test run of this fic. I think, like it is, this is going to work. Another anime AU, from me, but again,will probably only follow the anime rather loosely. There will be snippets from other sources as well, related to backstory and the like, mostly the more popular mangas.
> 
> Challenges: Rule 63, Novel With Prompts (for the prompt "rain), Diversity Challenge (character facets AU), and Story Starter challenge, with the first line from user The Light's Refrain. Thanks for that line! Pretty sure I've covered them.
> 
> Warnings: Um... Well, Ash is transgender, and will be referred to as she, and that will be a central theme of the story, along with what it entails, swearing as the characters get older, slurs may be used, hints of romance, events that are harmful to minors, and... canon-typical violence. That's it, really.
> 
> Okay, groundwork done! Let's start with the actual first arc of the story! Please read and review and let me know what you think! Thanks! And please inform me if the transgender experience seems utterly out of whack. I grew up with someone who was trans, but I understand that everyone's experience is very different.

The rain slid down the glass like many tears.

The summer storm was gentle now, building towards the boundless temper of thunder and lightning that it tended towards on summer days. She watched it fall, staring through the glass door at the grey sky. Somewhere, it was snowing more than it was raining.

Young Ash, seven-years-old, watched it fall, decorating the grass like dew. Her hand tightened on the ladle she was stirring with, eyes still on the outside rain. but her gaze shifted, the sight in front of her blurring away to a sunny place, where the wind blew slow, gentle breezes into her hair.

"Ash," she heard her mother say, as though from the other side of the house. "Leave that pot to rest a minute. Come chop the herbs."

The little girl nodded, pulling herself back to the rainy evening with a jerk of her head, chewing on her lip in that cautious bad habit she had formed after too many emotional outbursts (well, too many according to Mom). She wiped her hands on a clean cloth, then picked up the knife in her small hands. Chopping slowly, she let her mind wander again to the smell of an odd liquid, like mushy apples and the filling of Mago Berry pie, of muddled voices and someone, a child laughing. Innocent laughter, Pokemon laughter.

Her eyes slid shut slowly, putting the knife aside by reflex. Drumming her fingers against the counter top, Ash let the other noises fade like the television when she was falling asleep.

The voices… whoever they were, they sounded like they were having fun… A lazy grin passed over her face, until her shirt was yanked back and she almost fell off of the stool.

"Ash!"

She jumped, startled. "Mo-om!" she whined, broken from her stupor. "I was  _thinking_!"

Delia's expression was stern, solemn. "I bet you were thinking about something  _other_  than the knife and the food you were cutting, weren't you?"

Ash flushed, tan face darkening. "Well… I…" She hedged, toying with excuses in her mind, before her shoulders sagged. "Yeah…"

Delia pinched her daughter's nose. "You could have cut yourself."

Ash almost visibly drooped. She didn't know her mother for being fussy and worried about very much on a regular basis, other than general safety, food care, and self-esteem. Oh, and Pokemon, but every parent in the area fussed about Pokemon. Pallet Town had a reputation for great trainers. "Sorry..."

Delia mussed her hair, stern expression fading slowly into a smile. "If you're going to get distracted, step away. Bloody wounds can get you in trouble in the wild."

Ash nodded. "Sorry," she repeated. "I just... i dunno. I heard a bunch of voices and they were talking about the sky...and-" She decided to stop as her mother's expression descended further into discomfort. Not that her mother didn't believe her, but she was starting to  _worry_. Ash fidgeted with more discomfort. "Mom, I-"

"Take off your necklace." The woman's voice was calm, and reminded her daughter of those rare times where she had gotten  _in trouble for real_ , like when she had misread the laundry directions or over-fertilized the tomatoes or accidentally left the gate open for a herd of breeding Tauros and Miltank to escape the Oak Corral. Ash wrapped her fingers around the gold and silver necklace, tracing the smooth, center stones around it with her thumb and index finger. Confused, she did as she was told, staring at it, then up at her mother again. "Mom?"

Mom smiled. "Sorry, Ash. But you've heard me discuss it with your father, his grandparents even warned him it wasn't a kid's toy."

Ash still had no clue what that had to do with her wearing it, but nodded, slipping it into a pocket of her shorts. If Mom wanted her to keep it off, she would keep it off. She was Mom, after all. A smell caught Ash's attention and she sniffed. "Mom, is that the meat?" It smelled like seasoning and smoke.

Her mother laughed. "Trust you to get your nose stuck on the food."

"We're cooking!" Her voice was both protest and playful whine, and it caused her mother to smile again and that helped Ash ease her shoulders.

"Well, Ash, it's more like  _I_ am.  _You're_  just daydreaming."

Ash pouted. "Mo-om!"

"Wha- _at_?" Delia chuckled. "Go wash up so I can take out the silverware."

Ash stuck out her tongue and went to obey. The sensations from before had faded somewhat. Yet all through dinner, her chest ached. Ash tried to push it away, savoring the grilled meat or the berry sprigs on her plate. But her eyes itched and she eventually had to push it away and leave the table before she cried into the soup. Not that she knew why. Maybe it was like that superstition that people cried on rainy days and that was why she was so out of it.

"Make sure the bath water's extra hot," she heard her mother call from the stairs. "It'll help you relax."

"Okay!"

Inside the bathroom, she undressed and looked at herself in the mirror. Dissatisfaction pulled at her face and she tugged at the short spikes of hair with her bitten nails and scowled at herself.

God... did she have to look like her dad, all awkward and...what was that word her mother used... gangly? She wanted to look cute. She liked cute… well, she liked cool, too, but she didn't look that either.

Ash glared at herself, at her physical  _not-rightness_ , and went to go sit in the tub. She dangled her pendant over a nearby hook, staring at the glimmering light from the middle of each stone.  _Where did dad even find this thing?_  They had said it was some weird region called Kalos or something, where they were working on cementing the discovery of a new type or whatever.

Normally, Mom loved whatever her father brought home from his journey (whenever he came home, which was about as often as a blue moon), but this wasn't the same. She was always… she guessed the word would be mindful. She hated words sometimes. They were so complicated and painful and awkward. Shaking her head, she watched the tub steam before stepping into it.

Ash sat in the water for a while, thinking absently. And the smell from before dinner filled her, this time rotting, cold. This time, there was no more laughter. Her chest chilled and gooseflesh pimpled her arms despite the steaming water. She slunk under the water, staring at the mirror. Her vision faded from it and she found herself floating in the dark.

A dress billowed about her legs, plain and white. She was floating somewhere, a place that used to have features and voices, but didn't anymore. Even the twinkling stars were vanishing, fading like the sparks from a fire.

And so, she realized, was she.

There was a smile on her face like everything was okay and she didn't know why she was wearing it. Facing her was… something. A Pokemon, a person? A thing? And it was crying. In some way, she was making someone cry. Or was she watching someone cry through the eyes of somebody else? Ash felt her head spinning as her mouth moved of its own accord.

" _Stay alive, okay? I'm sure it will be fun!"_

The air rippled and sobbed with pain and her head exploded because whoever this person was, they were dying and she could do nothing, nothing at all and she was right there with the one who was crying and they were-

" _Answer me, Amber! Come back!"_

She burst from the bath, clutching her mouth and vaulting the toilet open. Her pendant dangled around her neck a she continued to retch. The tears fell through squeezed eyes and she couldn't wipe them away, coughing and spitting until her mouth was clean. She rubbed at her eyes until they hurt, sniffling.

" _COME BACK!"_

Ash felt her stomach beginning to roil again and her mother was there now, scooping her up and leaning her over the toilet and rubbing her back as she dry-heaved. Her cheeks flushed, humiliated.

" _COME BACK!"_

The pain spread from her head to her entire body and she coughed, falling back against her mother. It felt like something wanted to  _push_ itself out of her but it didn't know where to go. She felt like she was bleeding somewhere and soon it didn't matter because the pain was  _everywhere._

When her body finally calmed, and she could breathe without whimpering, Ash let her mother lift her and carry her to bed. The voices were fading, slowly going into darkness.

"Mom?" she croaked out. "Am I sick?"

Her mother shushed her gently and tucked her into bed. "No, Ash, just a stomach bug I think. I'll get you some seltzer water in a minute."

"Someone just died…" Had they? Had someone died? Someone named Amber…

Her mother's hand remained threaded through her messy hair. "What do you mean?"

Ash blinked at her through the fuzzy darkness of the room. "A little girl in a dress…"  _Like I want to be_.

"A little girl like you?" Her mother prompted, and despite the situation, her heart swelled a little.

"Her and some other thing, they were in the dark, and she faded away, and there was crying…" she closed her eyes. "I couldn't stop the crying…"

Delia smiled a little. "They wouldn't want you to cry for that."

Ash felt her mother's hand leave her head. She didn't see it, her eyes were closing. She didn't want to sleep, but she was tired from being sick and scared and  _useless_. "I couldn't help… I couldn't help Amber…"

If Ash had been a little more awake, she would have seen her mother's face blanch a little. But the woman pressed her lips to her daughter's forehead and stood when she saw her face ease into sleep. Then, she strode out of the room, and after a change of clothes, out of the house, locking it behind her. She hurried through the rain outside and towards the ranch not too far away. Tucking her hood further over her head, Delia twisted her lip and kept moving forward in her boots. In one fist, she clutched her daughter's pendant, glimmering even in the lack of bright light.

Reaching the cobblestoned path, she hurried up to the professor's door and knocked. Delia shivered in the cold until the doorknob clicked and turned. What greeted her was not the aging professor, but the small form of a child with spiked hair. He stared at her, puzzled.

Delia smiled. "Good evening, Gary. Is your grandpa awake?"

Gary nodded again, and stepped aside. She paused as she passed to muss his hair and this got a nice pout in return. She didn't like seeing him so solemn, nor Ash, really. But Gary had better reason than Ash, at least.

"Where's Ash?"

She hadn't expected the question tonight, considering the two of them had spent the past three months avoiding each other. Something to do with fishing, she hadn't asked.

"She's sick, just a bit of a stomach bug." He was young enough to wrinkle his nose at the idea of bugs and being sick and it made her smile again. "She'd probably like to see you when she's feeling better. We'll drop by, okay?"

Gary looked away at this, and scuffed his foot, and Delia was tempted to ask about what had happened now but the professor shuffled out at that moment, dusting off his jacket. "I thought i heard your voice, Delia. Come and dry off. What were you doing out in this rain?"

She hung up her coat and followed him into the room. "Ash," she said softly, squeezing out her skirt. He had seen her as a young girl with her teeth kicked in, so she didn't feel any indecency.

"What's wrong with her?" His tone was sharp and Delia paused a moment to thank god that the professor had a progressive mind and said "she".

"Stomach bug," she replied, flicking her eyes at Gary, who was now growing extremely uncomfortable.

Thankfully, the old professor seemed to notice. "Gary, would you do me a favor and check on the basement. The Pokemon don't like the storms as much as you do."

His grandson's face brightened, pleased at being involved in the 'adult jobs' she guessed, and ran out of the room.

Oak waited until his footfalls faded before returning to looking at her. "What happened to her?"

Delia grimaced. "She was distracted all afternoon. Would have cut herself if she wasn't careful. After dinner, she went to take a bath. Next thing I know, she's vomiting and crying and curled on the floor." She dangled her daughter's pendant on two fingers. "This thing hasn't stopped shining. My husband got it from relatives in Kalos a few weeks ago."

"So, you believe the issue is this... or the stones inside of it." Oak crossed his arms. "Has she acted like this around it before?" He had never seen Ash with it outside; the girl had probably been afraid to break it.

Delia bit her lip. "Once or twice. She tends to stop paying attention more often when she has it on. I took it from her tonight and she seemed peaky." She sighed. "Do you think my Ash is cursed somehow?"

"That's a very dangerous train of thought, Delia." The professor shook his head and examined the stones more thoroughly. "And an unlikely one. Curses don't come cheaply. Besides, couldn't it just be your genes kicking in?"

Delia scowled, despite herself. "Somehow, that's even  _less_  comforting."

Oak chuckled. "From what I can tell, your family's livelihood has served you rather well, Delia. Anyway… these stones… I swear I've seen some like them before. There's an apprentice of Rowan's out in Kalos, i'll ask him to take a look into it."

Delia pocketed the necklace with a nod. "There's… one more thing." She fidgeted. "My memory could be faulty, but do you remember your colleague out in Lavender? The one who was supposed to move here?"

"Fuji?" Professor Oak nodded. "He's been reclusive since the death of his daughter. Haven't heard much more from him than the Pidgey at their nests. Why do you ask?"

"Do you remember the girl's name?" Delia felt a chill run up her spine and the room shrunk outside of her view.

Oak paused. "I believe I played with the lass once… Amber, was it?" Seeing Delia's face whiten, he rose. "Delia? What's wrong?"

The woman paused to recollect herself. "Ash saw a girl named Amber," she finally said. "She said 'I couldn't help Amber.'"

"That could mean anything at all," the professor pointed out, nonetheless looking uncomfortable.

"i know," Delia said quietly."But he was always a rather…  _ambitious_  man, wasn't he? Fuji? All of those theories and papers he showed you..."

"Yes," Oak agreed, though reluctant, wringing his hands a bit. "He was never the same after she died either… I hope he hasn't done anything he'll regret."

Delia looked out the window, hoping the same. But sitting here, watching the rain fall, something in her heart told her that, if she had lost a child, her Ash, regrets wouldn't matter in the least.

And neither would morals.

* * *

Far away, in a laboratory no one could trace, inside a tube, something began to form. A humanoid creature.

A human child.

And closer to the mountains of Kanto, a Pokemon stirred from sleep, and took to wandering again.

As was Mew's wont.


	2. you're not busy, are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back. I'm not sure if you missed me. (Note to self: get to work on Embers next). It's been a bit! I was doing reviews and this one got a really nice comment from a user on here and it kind of boosted me up after a really crappy day so here is this chapter a little earlier than I expected it to be. That said, this is for the prompt-listen. Not Na'vi listen, though! Please read and review, if you feel so inclined. :D
> 
> As an aside: the bullying I received in school was not directed towards my face all that often, more whispers and stuff. I think I scared people. So if the scene below feels unrealistic, please let me know. I didn't want to follow the TV rule of "everyone picks on the freak" cause I've never really seen that happen. If the reviewers have any suggestions on the realistic side there, don't hesitate to pass them on!

"No, this isn't right, this wasn't meant to happen…"

One empty tank, one tank with a specimen, a half-solid specimen, but more than they once had, to be sure. The last three tanks had hastily remade eggs, which were currently very small.

The lead scientist paced the room, continuing to mutter. "She is here but he is not. They are both here. This was what was promised but not what was meant to be, where did we go wrong?" Why was the human here but the Pokemon showing up on the monitor? Why, when both were necessary?

'Who's there?' High voice, soft, sweet voice trickled into the air.

The man straightened from his hunch over the keyboard and looked to his left, then right, then up. "Show yourself!" His voice croaked at the end, face paling to an almost paper white color.

There was no response. The man wondered if he had imagined it. Then a sickly light emerged from the one functioning tank, green and red and lined with gold. The mere shape began to solidify, then fade again.

'Who's there?' it repeated

The man stared at the living occupant of the tank and ran his fingers through his matted beard. "...Amber?"

'Daddy?' He could hear her now, so puzzled but alive, his daughter was truly alive, or aware. 'My head feels funny. Where's Mewtwo?'

"Amber." He repeated the word like a prayer, struggling to contain a smile of mirth and dread. It was her in the tank after all. She was alive.

But if Mewtwo was not in its tank, then it must be dead.

He went to the computer and examined the readings. But the signal was there. It was still… no, it couldn't be. It wasn't possible.

"Sir?"

" _What?"_  He normally didn't snap, but now, he couldn't  _help_ but snap. it had taken so much to replicate the DNA from the eyelash, how could he do it fast enough to avoid-

The woman who had interrupted his thoughts didn't flinch. "There's a woman here to see you. I believe the name was Juniper."

The word  _juniper_  brought up trees and weary leaves and a little girl on a ferry waving from her father's shoulders. From that came a burst of envy and bitter triumph.

"Let her in." Yes, let her see, let her learn before Giovanni. Let her know what this is, let her learn what he has truly managed to do.

Before she reached him, however, he had to send a message to Blaine. He would understand, he was a true scientist.

"Amber, we have a guest. Be nice to her now."

'Okay, daddy!'

* * *

It took most of the weekend for Ash to recover from being sick. She hadn't had her pendant back since, but for some reason, Ash couldn't find it too worrisome. She was better and sick of being sick. And sleeping. If that meant no pendant, then it meant no pendant.

So, after much wheedling at her mother's skirt, Ash went back to class at the Oak Lab. She skipped and ran and almost tripped, brushing her jeans back down. She huffed at her ungainly legs, these boy legs, and hurried on, kicking up dust in her wake. She knew most her age would wear a skirt, but honestly, that made no sense. The lab was a place of dirt and grass and  _stuff_. What girl in their right mind would do that?

She tried not to skip too much, bouncing from foot to foot as she rang the doorbell. Her hopping only slowed at the sight of Gary opening the door.

Ash shifted back a bit, face caught between unfiltered delight and utter dismay. Of all of the people to meet her at the door, it had to be Gary Oak. It had to be that... stupid  _boy._  Okay, Ash could readily think of worse boys to meet first thing in the morning, she'd see them soon enough, and Gary wasn't on the list, but it was the principle of the thing!

That was what mom called it. She had no clue what that actually meant.

Lucky for her, Gary didn't look much more composed about it. His eyes darted from her to the back of the house, lips twisting. Then he let out a little noise, one of his many sounds that Ash just never  _got_. He was so weird sometimes.

"You better?"

Ash blinked and scuffed her foot. That hadn't been the line she had expected. Something more along the lines of "what are you doing here?" or "get lost, loser!" She'd only ever heard him say the former to anyone, though. Maybe she was thinking too much.

Realizing she had to actually answer, Ash managed to nod. "Yeah, much better. Mom didn't want me to come today."

"She said you were sick." He stepped back, turning to head inside. Ash hesitated, then trotted after him, sneakers squeaking on freshly cleaned floors. Mom visited Oak a lot, she had probably told him about it.

"Yeah, I think I ate something wrong."

Gary let out a snort. One of these days, Ash needed to tell him that he sounded like an angry Charizard. "You'd worry your mom less if you didn't inhale dinner before you looked at it."

"Hey, I helped her make that one, I just… I got distracted…" She trailed off. Ash remembered the dream, and with it, the sensation of fading away and the creepy happiness about it. She shook her head and transplanted a grin onto her face. "So, what'd I miss?"

Gary tugged at the sleeves of his teal shirt. "Not really. Devon's been kicking up a stink, saying you quit because you were a girl or something. I think if Leaf and the others don't sock his face in by the end of the day, you ought to take a swing."

Ash shifted as she walked, hands clenching from fists to free hands over and over. "Devon's such a Spoink," she muttered. "I'm not the one who nearly got my nose bitten off by one of the Growlithe…"

"Eh, you're being unfair to the Spoink." Gary paused. He peered at her through his drooping bangs and Ash paused. For a moment, it'd been easy again, like they hadn't had that dumb fight at all. Now what? She didn't want to yell, that'd be a really bad way to start learning up again. "Hey… Ash…"

Ash felt herself tense a little. "Yeah?" It had been going so well, they were talking and not shouting or anything. Don't ruin it Gary, come on...

Gary worried his lip, something Ash found weird for his face. Gary didn't worry about stuff. He barreled in and got in the way and messed around and-

Okay, she was being kind of unfair. But he was so stubborn about a dumb old Water type! There were millions of those!

"Can we..." he struggled. "Be friends again?"

Ash stared at him, then tugged at her jeans. She wished there was an adult here. Adults would tell her whether yes or no was better. Adults tended to tell her the right thing.

"I don't want to fight over this," Gary added. "It was a stupid fish. We can catch loads of them."

Okay, when he put it like that...

"Yeah," she said slowly. "We can. But..." Ash grinned and slapped his shoulder. "Mine's gonna be stronger. I'm gonna get a Feebas!"

Gary snickered. "Girl, Feebas are in Hoenn."

She didn't try to hide her pride at being called a girl, even though her pants suddenly itched. "There's no way people don't trade and breed and stuff."

They both wrinkled their noses at the word breed.

"Still asking for a needle in a haystack," Gary said with a snort. "Come on, let's go."

Ash grinned and trotted after him like a Lillipup. "Sir, yes sir!"

"Oh shut up."

Ash's laughter lasted until they made it to the backyard. Then she stopped and shivered with discomfort.

In the spacious field, Pokemon scampered and flew and swam, and near them sat about eight kids. Three girls were occupied by a small flock of Pidgey. The birds chirped happily against the touch of pudgy fingers. One of the boys had a Sandshrew on his head, and that one saw Ash and Gary standing nearby. "Oh, hey, you're here," he said, voice playful.

This caught the attention of the others, who immediately reacted in varying states of awkward hellos. The gaggle of girls waved around their birds, one avidly picking at feathers. Ash waved back and then looked away. She was glad the parents weren't here, at least. She had never been near them by themselves, but the looks they gave her mother were bad enough.

Ash could almost hear them now:  _well, at least_ he's  _dressed properly this time, but that haircut…_ Her lip curled and she looked down. She wouldn't punch her classmates… they usually didn't say that stuff.

"Oh look, you're not dressing like some pansy now!"

Present exception  _duly_  noted.

Ash's eye twitched and she looked up at a freckled, dark-haired boy, who lowered a rather unamused looking Sentret. Beside her, Gary shifted on one foot, eyes narrowing. Ash took a deep breath, steeled her nerves, and locked eyes. It was a trainer battle without the prize money, she swore it was.

"Devon," she said, almost wishing she'd skipped out.

Devon grinned, a nasty smile that would have made someone else's face particularly ugly. As plain as he was, it only served to twist his cheeks like it hurt to do, as though looking at Ash was somehow like staring at the sun.

No one really laughed, but they watched. Two of the other boys were looking amused. Traitorous little Ditto. Devon parroted his mother as much as Gary his grandpa, but the professor was worth respecting. That woman could fall into a Tauros herd for all Ash cared. And take her son with her!

"Not gonna say anything,  _dude_?"

Ash bit her lip. She couldn't punch him in the face, she couldn't punch him the face, that was not allowed, not okay…

"Now all we need to do is get some scissors," he added, stepping towards her. Get that fluff of nonsense you call hair out of your ugly face."

"I dunno," Gary drawled, and everyone's eyes snapped onto him, Ash's included. "At least hers isn't a rat's nest. Is that a twig in there, Devon?"

Devon glared, which had all of the power of a rubber Ekans behind it. "I'll pop your arms like twigs, Oak! Your grandpa won't save you from that!"

"Oh lay off, Devon," grumbled Leaf, the only girl who did not have a Pidgey. "Seriously, you do this every day." She tugged at her hat. "So she beats you on the basic tests, big deal. You just don't study."

One of the amused boys sniggered and Devon turned on him until he quailed. Then he turned back to Leaf. "You keep quiet. Bad enough you think you're better than me, I ain't gonna take it from a  _fake_  girl either."

Ash twitched and took a step forward. Gary stuck his arm out and scowled at her. That was the only reason Ash shifted back, glaring daggers. "I'm not fake!" It was a crappy retort, but what else could she say?

Devon sneered. "Yeah, you're a real princess in jeans, Ash. Stop faking and just be  _normal_  like the rest of us."

The other girls looked at each other and Leaf rolled her eyes. "Stop sounding like mom, you preachy, misogynistic wad of chewing gum."

"Shut up already!" Devon turned on her, and that left him wide open to Ash tackling him to the ground, grinding his face into the dirt.

"I am normal, you brainless Weedle!" she shouted, kicking him in the back. "Take it back before I break your nose!" She grabbed him by his mess of hair and yanked. Devon struggled and twisted, howling for an adult. Ash didn't care, let an adult see it. Devon, the so called practical battling genius because he could point and say  _tackle_  in the right places, howling in fear of Ash, the twiggy girl in blue jeans.

He deserved it. She couldn't believe she had ever fought with Gary in the first place when there were guys like Devon around.

* * *

"I should be furious with you."

Ash rubbed her cheek, looking sulkily down at the ground. She kicked a rock. "He deserved it…"

Delia sighed, amused but trying to contain it. She really was as impulsive as her father some days. "Ash… you can't beat up everyone who insults you. It doesn't work that way. Keep this up and Oak won't let you leave Pallet Town."

Ash huffed, placing her hands in her pockets. "But I'm not fake," she said, voice vehement. "I'm not!"

Delia stopped walking and knelt. "Ash," she said, voice soft. "You're never going to be a fake  _anything_ , unless you let yourself be. But there are always going to be people who say that. Devon's mother fills his head with all sorts of things, and you can't beat her."

Ash shifted beneath her mother's grip on her shoulders. She could certainly  _try_  to beat her up.

"What you can do is beat him, without fists, or words." Her mother's eyes sparkled. "This is why you need to become a trainer, Ash. Show him all of his words, all of his goading, his lies, they don't mean a thing. You  _have to_ , Ash. You can't be you if you're following what he says, can you?"

Well, that kind of made sense. A dreamy sort of smile curled Ash's lips. "Imagine his face." He'd be so mad, the girlhe picked on was the Champion of Champions...

"Exactly."

Ash beamed at her mother, bruise and bad temper forgotten, and they continued to walk.

"Guess what?" Ash said, breaking the silence after mere seconds. "Gary and I are friends again!" At her mother's delighted expression, she went on.

Neither of them noticed the pink creature flying above the trees.

On their dining room table, Ash's pendant began to glow.


	3. there's no telling what can happen

Oak put his pencil down and sighed, stretching in his chair. The upgrade just wasn't working. He ran his fingers through his graying hair. He just wasn't a hardware man, it seemed like. He reached to toy with the screwdriver, taking apart the original model with a low sigh. "It was much easier when we had so few of you to record," he told a passing Wooper. The Pokemon waved its tail and kept waddling, probably headed to play hide-and-seek.

The Professor rubbed his eyes. Perhaps he would do well with a nap. That sounded wonderful. He made to rise, cracking his back.

"Grandpa!"

He let out a sigh. Somehow, Gary had an uncanny ability to be heard no matter where he was in the house. "What is it?"

Gary tottered in, a clipboard in his hand. "Mister wants you to sign for something."

"Any guesses as to what it is?" He began his walk to the door. Oak certainly received a lot of phone calls, but not much in the way of unwarranted packages.

His grandson shrugged. "It looked like the crates you put the babies in when you sent them to Elm."

" _Professor_  Elm," Oak corrected. Gary rolled his eyes and passed him the clipboard.

"I'll go get one of the Machop to carry it." He scampered away and Professor Oak couldn't help but roll his eyes in jest. He was getting quite the attitude. He signed the clipboard and went to examine said crate. Air slits, a sloppily made box, a few missing screws. but he recognized the shipping sticker with ease. Juniper? What was she doing, sending him packages? The starter babies weren't due in for two more months, and that was Elm's department. He hadn't even planned to ask for them until Thursday!

He offered the delivery man the clipboard and a thank you, stepping back to let the Machop carry the crate inside. Even the warnings to 'handle with care' were messy on the wood, hand written rather than stamped. He sent Gary from the room. His grandson obeyed, shouting about going to study with Ash. Oak chuckled to himself, then his expression sobered.

"Machop, defense and counterattack at the ready if you could." The Machop let out an acknowledging grunt, but he was shifting back a little. Well, that was intriguing. He picked up the screwdriver and began to pry the crate open. Nothing moved or jumped.

Managing to open the crate, Oak blinked in surprise. "We were intimidated by three eggs?"

Machop grunted again and sniffed, leaning carefully towards them. He scoffed and picked one up, showing the professor the shell.

Oak scratched his head. He wasn't an expert on eggs, but he had raised plenty of Bulbasaur. Those patches were  _not_ the right shade of green.

"Put that one in the incubator." The Pokemon hurried to obey and he continued to examine the other two. All of them, altered somehow, but thankfully there were no cracks. Had Juniper found someone who had managed to breed shiny Eggs? That would give his coworkers a heart attack. As he passed the Squirtle egg to the Machop for incubation, he jostled a folded paper amidst the hay. He unfolded the paper and began to read.

" _Oak, we have a problem. I went to check on Fuji because he had yet to send me back my latest thesis, and you know him, he's usually so prompt with those things. He hasn't been back to Lavender in four months, according to the kids. I did find him, and… well… I'll keep to the minimum in terms of details, I don't have time to go into it. He's experimenting in cloning again, and it's worked. I managed to get those three off of the island, but I'm afraid I can't escape yet. There's more. He's not well, Professor. Get those eggs out into the field as soon as possible. We need to see just what he's done to those genes so we can report to the League. I'm not sure if he's going to chase after the eggs. His current project has been occupying him to near breaking point. Regardless, it will be safer if they're with the trainers that flood the world, rather than with you where people have to go in and out._

…  _I'm hoping it's not the case, but I think he's succeeded. Please be careful. I saw_ their  _symbol on some of the boats and gear._

_I'll try to get out as soon as possible._

_Juniper_

Oak reread the letter twice more and then sank back into the rolling chair. "Oh, Fuji… what have you  _done_?"

His daughter would not have wanted this.

* * *

"I don't get it, I don't get it, this is dumb, what is  _this_..."

Delia watched Ash chew on her pencil. At this point, she had almost chewed off the eraser. The woman tried not to laugh. "Ash, what are you looking at? It can't be time for starter applications now. You've got at least another month."

Ash shook her messy head. "The Professor is trying this test thing out. He wants to see if Mr. Elm's theory about trainers and eggs is true. He wants us to earn our starters early, he said." She groaned. "So I have to know all of this stuff and it's hard. The test is in two weeks!" She whined. "I don't wanna mess up because my memory sucks." Which was true. Her test grades were average, even though her battle instincts were fine in practice. Plenty of book reading over the past two years and Devon taunting had galled, and boys being idiots was as good of an encouragement as any.

"You'll still get a starter, won't you?" That was the main thing that Delia worried about. The Professor had been raised in the "throw the child into the unharvested trees and see what happens" method. She knew that while her daughter would  _enjoy_  the idea, it wouldn't really work out that well. Barely any of these kids had any survival skills other than "stay on the road".

Ash interrupted her thoughts with a hand wave. "Yeah, that's not the problem. But the starters are, well…" She looked for a word that could explain it. "They're the  _starters_ , Mom!"

Delia laughed. "You mean that they're different than the rest."

Ash nodded, eyes sparkling. "I'm not gonna lose either. Not to Gary or Devon or anyone! So I gotta study!" She looked back at her papers and her stocky shoulders sagged. "But there's seriously a lot…" She slapped her cheeks. "Just gotta do it!"

Delia chuckled. "There's nothing wrong with taking a break… you've been at this for an hour."

"I'm okay!" she insisted. "One more page."

Her mother laughed. "If you're sure, Ash." Hearing a knock at the door, she stepped away. "Let me bring you something to drink, at least."

"Kay!"

Delia went to the door, still laughing. "Good morning, Gary! Your grandpa free you from the chores?"

Gary shrugged, managing a smile and toying with the pendant on his neck. "He got a weird box earlier and said I should go over here." He waved a hand

Delia's lips tipped into a frown. "Really, that's odd." She shook her head. "Well, the more, the merrier! Ash is studying right now. You want to help?"

Gary let out a groan. "By studying, you mean banging her head against the books, right?" His expression turned sly. "I'm gonna help."

"Don't make her mad," Delia warned. "I'd rather you two not start a fist fight in the kitchen."

"Yes ma'am," he replied with an innocent smile. "I wouldn't dare."

She mussed his hair. "Oh, yes you would."

"I won't break anything," he promised, then went over to Ash, tapping her on the shoulder and grinning. Whatever Ash retorts with was lost in the sound of the video phone. She went to pick it up, settling down to smile at Professor Oak.

By the end of the call, Delia felt torn between tears and fury. She glanced at the two children, who by this time had navigated themselves to the living room floor, drawing Pokemon battles and nudging their figurines.

She understood Fuji. In the darkest corners of her mind, she could even  _agree_ with him. Still, looking at Ash and Gary playing, seeing them alive, she had to wonder if her daughter would forgive her for not living if she died. She wondered if Ash would do the same thing for her if she did.

She reached into the dresser drawer and pulled out her daughter's pendant. Delia let out a small sigh. She was too young to be a parent, she really was.

* * *

The day of the test woke Ash up with the sunrise. Facts and pictures painted her mind until all she saw was a canvas of murky brown. She stretched slowly and left her bed, playing back the control a Pikachu could have over a lightning strike and the danger a Charmander had of a slow, painful death when its fire faded away. The facts just kept whirling, like a ruined laundry list. Eventually, Ash got up and went out to run. She had wanted to study, but her body was buzzing. There was no way to sit at a desk when the body felt like a Beedrill hive.

So she went outside and jogged, running with the sun, running against the breeze. It felt good on her face.

_I can do this! I will pass. I have to, I have to._

A first Pokemon that wasn't a starter wouldn't be so bad, she knew that. It might even be good. Still though, sitting through Devon's bragging whether he got one or not would be sheer torture.

Ash made it around town and back again, running back inside to the smell of her mother's food. "Morning, Mom!"

Delia smiled, though the gleam in her eyes was much dimmer than usual. Ash had noticed her like that for the past few days. "Needed a minute?" Her voice was still cheerful, but she splashed a bit too much sauce on her own burger. Ash decided not to tell her.

"Was nervous, woke up early." she rubbed her face with a towel. "Showering after food will help, right?"

"When does food never help you?" Delia joked, setting the plate in front of her and mussing the already messy hair. She sat back and watched her daughter eat for a moment. "Ash…?"

"Ye-" She paused to swallow. "Yeah?"

Delia was quiet for a moment, expression thoughtful. She seemed to be hesitate for a moment, which was weird. Her mother didn't hesitate much, if ever. She was as headstrong as she had raised Ash to be. His mother worried her lip before pulling something from her pocket. She dangled Ash's pendant from her fingers with a smile. "For luck," she said.

Ash wiped her fingers and reached for it with slow hands, a puzzled frown on her face. "You sure?"

Delia laughed. "So long as you're careful."

Ash took it and wrapped it around her neck, "Thanks!" She dove back into her meal again, and Delia sat back to eat her own.

Her mother was still upset about something, but whatever it was, she would tell Ash later.

At least Ash hoped she would.

* * *

When Ash got to the testing classroom, the only one in there was Gary. He waved at her, eyes tired. "Didn't sleep," he said, gesturing to the circles under his eyes.

"You got nervous?" Ash raised an eyebrow.

"So did you, I bet," Gary muttered, pretending to glare.

Ash flushed. "I just ran around the town." She sat down and pulled out her supplies. "You ready, at least?"

"Probably." Gary reached and stretched, flicking Ash in the nose. "We both studied as hard as we could and all."

"True…"

"What are you nutballs doing here?" Devon walked in while adjusting his collector's edition, cereal box hat. "Don't tell me Ash thinks it can pass."

Ash felt her eye twitch. "It" was almost worse than he. Gary nudged her, and she nodded. Punching him here would get her thrown out of the test. She'd be lucky to get a Pidgey then. Instead, she raised her pendant for Gary to see. "Mom gave it back."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "For real? Ain't that a jinx?"

"Ash is a jinx," Devon said with a snide smile.

Leaf flicked him in the forehead. "Shut up and get ready for the test." He glared and fell quiet, rubbing the small welt.

As people began to wander in, the room grew louder until the professor came in. Ash blinked in surprise, noticing his shuffle. She glanced at Gary, who shook his head. Ash put her study materials away and played with her pencil. Why were all the adults so freaked out lately?

"Good morning, everyone." After the chorused reply, he began moving from desk to desk, distributing packets. "Today's the day!" He paused a moment, feeling all of the eyes on his. The exhaustion seemed to drain away in a moment, leaving the genial professor they all tended to take for granted. "Everyone ready?"

"Duh," Devon muttered.

The professor chuckled. "You will have ninety minutes to complete the first part of the exam, and after the break, we'll have a battle test." He set the timer. "And… begin!"

There was the sound of rustling paper, then silence. Ash read the first page over, stomach coiled into knots. Then the thumping of her heart began to slow and she started to write. She knew this.

As she continued to write, she felt something brush at her head. It was like someone was leaning over her shoulder. There was nothing there, not even Gary, and it was so feather-light that she couldn't place it. As she put the last answer in, the timer rang and there was a giggle at her ear.

" _Wow,"_ a voice said in her head. " _You're smart!"_

* * *

She had imagined it.

That was all she thought through the break. Ash splashed her face and took off her pendant, but even now, that sensation wasn't going away. It felt like someone was right behind her no matter where she went. By the time Gary found her, Ash had ripped up a notebook page to shreds in an attempt to calm down.

"You cool?" he asked.

Ash groaned. "I dunno… I heard something and it was right behind me."

"Think one of grandpa's Gastly are running around bugging you?" He held out a hand and she took it, letting him lead her back. "It felt a little cold in there."

Ash shook her head. "I dunno… hope not. I managed to finish the test." She rubbed her eyes. "What if I got some wrong?"

"We all probably got some wrong," he pointed out. "Still got part two to worry about before that."

Ash sweatdropped. "Yeah, I know…" She had the battles. She knew the battle stuff. She just had to push the weirdo voice out of her head until this was over. Until she had her starter.

She still turned when she heard another giggle.


	4. I'm going out on a limb here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the wait on this one everybody. This is for the prompt - promise. And this is also where the original part of the plot laughed in my face. Yay! Please read and review and thank you to all those random favs and follows!

Ash awoke in a cold sweat. She stumbled to the bathroom, murmuring absently with her eyes shut. Her chest heaved for air until she managed to sit on the toilet. She rubbed her knuckles into her eyes, groaning in pain. Her stomach fluttered with someone else's worry, someone else's concern.

"I'm okay," she said to the bathroom and to the concerned party. At least, she _thought_ she was talking to them. She wasn't entirely sure who the concerned party was, to start with. They hadn't given her a name, but they were young, probably that girl who might have died. They were a couple of years younger than her, even. And they were in a great deal of pain right now. "You shouldn't worry, you're the one all trapped and stuff." Though how was she alive again? Technology sure could be amazing...

" _I'm strong. You're not."_

If Ash had a little more energy, she would have been offended by that. As it was, she just shook her head. Perspective. Have to keep things in perspective. "I'll get strong, and then I'll save you, okay?"

The giggle in her mind was half-hearted, but Ash was not deterred. Hearing voices was not good, but seeing as this one was actually a person, and more importantly, a person somewhere she couldn't get to, it couldn't be that bad for her, right?

"I'm gonna," she whispered to the room, clutching her pendant in one small fist. "Just watch me."

When her head was quiet, Ash got up and flushed the toilet, heading back into her room. As she crawled back under the covers, she saw the moonlight glitter over the glass case on her nightstand. Ash smiled at the egg.

"See," she said to herself. "I'm stronger already."

After all, she now had a Charmander egg.

* * *

Ash, as was now becoming routine over the past two weeks, woke with the sun a few hours later. She was starting to like that better than having her mom do it or even the stupid Voltorb clock. (How many of those had she broken now anyway? Four?) She sat up in bed and smiled at the room, then went about her usual work. Her head was quiet again but for a low buzzing noise. She washed her face and dressed, then went over to the egg to examine it, legs swinging back and forth in her chair. She turned the glass case over on the table, searching for cracks and watching it wobble in place. She grinned at it, and lifted it into its harness. She hitched it up over her shoulders and examined her room one more time before leaving.

"Morning, Mom," she greeted, seeing the woman at the sink. "It wobbled again!"

Delia smiled faintly, reaching down for the dishtowel. "That's a good sign," she said, remembering her few experiences with an egg. They were nefariously tricky to get right on a good day. "Only a few more days, do you think?"

"The professor said that." Ash set the egg gently in its warm, incubated container on the table. "He said since I have a Charmander and I'm active with them, they should hatch sooner because fire types need a lot of activity to fuel their inner flames and keep their blood pumping. If I had a Snorunt or something I'd have to leave it in the cold and stuff, which seems weird, but I guess because they're ice-types, they don't need any heat but their mom's-"

"Ash." Delia laughed as her daughter settled slowly, realizing what she had been doing.

The girl grinned, looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry." She patted the egg. "What's for breakfast? Can I help?"

"Watch the bacon."

Ash nodded. She could do that. The pendant bounced on her neck as she worked with the tongs, shining in the firelight of the stove. The crackling noise from the pan below made her laugh.

"Hey, Mom," she said, putting some of the bacon on the plate. "When they hatch, do you think they'll grow strong with me? And we'll be the champion together?"

"That depends on how much effort you and your team put in together." Delia sounded amused, remembering her days having those dreams. "They won't evolve into a Garchomp, I'm afraid." Her daughter had finally discovered her very own role models: Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh as of three days ago, and the up and coming star, Diantha. She had never seen her daughter more glued to the television than during those final matches.

Ash pouted, imagining the discovery of Charizard being related to Garchomp with a Charizard with purple wings and an even tougher skin, or the other way around even! The scales were all wrong, both in color and size. Also typing. "I know… the Professor said the genes were too far apart or something. But I thought all Pokemon were descended from Mew."

Delia chuckled, flipping the grilled cheese. "Those genes are from a long time ago, Ash. The connection is a lot thinner due to the effects of time." It had been a while since _she_ had been asked the Pokemon questions. Usually her daughter's curiosity bubbled up and she threw them all at Professor Oak, sometimes ending up disappointed that he didn't have the answers.

" _That's why I help children go on journeys," he would always tell her. "So they can find the answers to their new questions, and tell them all to me."_

That only riled her daughter up even more. Delia wasn't even sure that her daughter _could_ wait until she was ten years old to get going. Youngsters did it all the time. Not that they got very far most of the time.

Delia wouldn't let her anyway.

"Come on," she said with a chuckle. "Ask me too many more questions and you'll be late for school."

"Mo-om."

"I know, I know."

Ash didn't notice the glow of the pendant still, soft and ethereal, but Delia did.

* * *

As night fell, the island grew quiet once again. Aurea Juniper shifted awake in the storage container she had squirreled away. She adjusted the sleeping bag and peeked through the slits in the door. The air was still, little movement from beyond the corner of the room. She eased the door of her metal home open a little and opened one of the Pokeballs at her waist. Out popped a little yellow and blue insect. It looked around and let out a tiny chitter sound at the sight of her in its many blue eyes.

"Hey buddy," she whispered to him. She pulled out the tiny, attachable camera. "Ready to go?"

The Joltik chittered again and let her tie the device on. Then he disappeared, scurrying away from the the security as quickly as possible. Aurea sat back, managing to avoid making the box creak. She didn't want the motion caught on the camera.

 _I got lucky,_ she mused to herself. She had found an incredibly large storage container long abandoned. Judging by the scents lingering around, there had once been living samples here. All of them had been crammed here. As eggs, it might not have been so bad until they had hatched, but then they had. She could only imagine the conditions that had been here when they had hatched, without parents or much in the way of food or water. Thankfully, it had been cleaned out since then. The images her mind created were enough

Aurea settled back against the side of the container and opened her laptop. The camera's screen flickered into view a few moments later, revealing hazy monochrome. So long as it worked, Aurea wouldn't fuss. That was the best way to study in Unova.

Joltik scampered along, bouncing the camera ever so slightly as he made his way past the cameras all around. The little guy had gotten good at this over the past few weeks. He knew the blind spots better than Aurea ever could. It also helped he could short the cameras out a little. If only she could let him drop that Everstone.

But not yet.

The lab soon came into view below the grate of the ducts. In the tanks floated new eggs, replacing the ones she had stolen from one of the looser crates. They wobbled in the liquid, next to the form of the sleeping girl. Her heart clenched.

She knew very little of the accident that had ruined the career of Dr. Akihiro Fuji in the past. It had involved cloning to help with infertility in people. Then it had been his daughter. He had been kicked out of the Association sometime later and retreated into hermitude. All the rumors were practically documented by now.

She just hadn't figured he had fallen quite this far.

The screen flickered and another worker passed over to the tank containing the girl and made a note. She couldn't read it. the distance was too great. But that didn't even matter. She didn't need much more proof than this. All she had to do was record a little more footage.

She was so engrossed in what was on her computer screen that she didn't hear the storage door roll open until it was too late.

* * *

Delia started at the sound of the slamming screen door, nearly dropping the laundry at the almost dangerous thump of a heavy, egg-laden, bag. Not even a minute passed before her young daughter tackled her in the legs and nearly bowled her over. She twisted slightly, noting mentally that this movement was getting more and more difficult with age.

"Ash?"

No answer, just trembling shoulders and small wet patches forming at the hem of her shirt. Instincts coiled up like an agitated Ekans. She set the pan down carefully. Had that boy Devon pushed too far? Had she fought with Gary again? Had the egg broken? Delia set the pan gently on the stovetop, turning off the flame to let the food cool. Then she turned and knelt carefully to look at her. "Ash? Look at me."

Ash lifted her head. Her brown eyes were puffy, and there was a little pink light in the center of each pupil. Delia made herself smile, though her skin was starting to crawl. Plans started to form in the back of her mind, but she didn't say any of them. She knew what she had to do this time. "What are you seeing, Ash?" Unconsciously, she moved one hand from her daughter's shoulders to the golden chain around her neck. The two stones gave off a faint glow, and with that light was a strange symbol in all colors, like a twisted flame.

Ash's fingers found their way back into her mother's skirt and gripped it tight. Delia reminded herself that her daughter was _seven_ and that nothing she said would be as crystal clear as a lot of seers but if she didn't say it, didn't let it out, the power would be more disaster than good fortune. "Fire and smoke," she finally said, voice shaking. "She's looking everywhere, there's so much noise and it hurts. Too much, she's never been outside before. She's not happy anymore, Mom, she was so happy-"

Delia gently pressed Ash's shoulder blades, cutting the girl off so she could breathe. She should have recognized this, she had grown up with the signs. Perhaps she was just desperate for the denial.

Ash did so. Then again, and again. The most important thing for if a human exhibited the power of a Pokemon was the state of their body, the state of their emotions. Delia had trained, albeit briefly, around this. Any power family could tell you that. When her daughter's breathing had stabilized a little, Delia let go. Ash stared up at the ceiling now, the glow unfading. It was happening. Whatever she was seeing, it was happening right now and there was nothing anyone could do. Delia hesitated after that thought, then reached into her laundry basket, constantly kept half-open. It wasn't the best place to keep a pokeball, but the security system worked well enough.

She expanded it and released the yellow creature to float near them. Ash didn't immediately take notice. Delia looked at her Abra, who yawned in her mind so loud she was surprised she didn't hear her jaw crack. "Go get her," she said.

She faded away in a flicker of pink light and Delia turned to Ash. "All right," she encouraged. "It's okay Ash, tell me what's happening."

Ash looked down. Delia smiled. And Ash spoke.

"Amber's gone," she said. "She just wanted to help that lady. The lady with bright hair and a Joltik. She was caught and Amber's papa got so upset. He didn't want her here. She was in the way. Amber got all scared because her papa isn't supposed to-" Ash looked down, glow starting to fade and knees trembling. "-to be like… no… no… I dunno, I dunno, hurts… Mom, my head hurts…"

Delia scooped her up, and thanked the legendaries she was still small, going to lay her on the couch. She would explain to Oak later. She settled Ash down on the couch, head in her lap and barely conscious. Then, she waited.

She didn't have to wait long. A soft light permeated the room, and a navy-haired woman landed on the floor. At the sight before her, an eyebrow quirked. "Domestic," she quipped.

Delia hid a smile. The other always managed to defuse tension, even if accidentally. "Now it is. You missed her first Trance." A heavy pause, then Delia lifted her head. "I missed you, Sabrina. I just wish we reunited under better circumstances."

"As do I, dear sister." Sabrina swept over, long trailing robes dragging across clean floor. "You caught me just after filming. I didn't even have time to change."

"Look at you, the actress." It was the other's most social activity.

"It's better than secluding myself in a mountain." Sabrina knelt, examining the small child sleeping before her with a sigh. "You didn't think to call our father."

Delia shook her head. "Nor hers. You know Abra would never be able to find either of them."

Sabrina snorted, disdain creeping into sharp features, for fathers in general most likely. "Indeed. They would not. Tell me what she saw, if you could." Her sister did so, and at the end of Delia's translation and further elaboration, Sabrina sighed. "That Pokemon egg in her bag was from that lab."

"Professor Oak informed me of that." Delia rubbed her eyes. "It's not a good sign. Labs so far from the mainland when they're already a fringe group. But with that much power now..."

"Rocket has been eager to devour Saffron for months now," Sabrina said absently. "Hence why you haven't been getting my calls."

"I always thought it was because of my husband." She tried to joke but her stomach continued to churn.

Sabrina sniffed. "Just because he is descended from a sacred family doesn't mean I have to _like_ him, sister."

Delia chuckled. "Of course not. But still…" She sobered. "Do you think the bloodlines are working out of harmony?"

"I wouldn't be able to tell you," Sabrina admitted, removing her chilly fingers from Ash's cheek. The girl squirmed but didn't wake. "Not immediately, at any rate. I'd need time with her. Plenty of it. At least a year. Possibly two."

Any other day, Delia would have refused, even for her sister. But these past few weeks had proven she couldn't do that. Too many visions and flashes. Too many sick moments. She couldn't risk any of it any further. "We have to ask her," she finally said.

Sabrina smiled grimly. "She'll want to. For that girl's sake, whether she's alive or not."

Delia looked down at the sleeping girl. "That's very true. Thank you, Sabrina."

"For what?"

 _You know perfectly well,_ Delia thought, and her younger sister laughed.


	5. have I finally gotten stronger?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for waiting! THe prompt today is... stuff! Also warning for timeskip

The color of the sky was a brilliant blue, from what the tall man could see at his spot in the customs line. He sighed and ruffled his hair. "Well, Bracken," he said to the nearest Pokeball. "What do you think? Our ETA looking good to you?"

Through the translucent surface of the old, weathered black ball, he saw an angular, feathered head shake and the beak make silent squawks. He laughed.

"You're right, you're right. I'm always caught up in lines, aren't I?" the ball shook, and the man took a step forward. "In lines, running late, I have a book of excuses. Ten years of excuses." He let out a sigh and Augustus Sycamore scratched at the stubble on his chin. "None of them holding any water, at that. Spent six years now away from my child…"

The last he had seen them, Ash had been poking jeans and frilly shirts and mixing their colors. The letters he had received since he left had simply referred to her as 'their little girl', well, when they had finally reached him. International mail was flighty at the best of times. Sometimes it simply got lost. All he had managed was to send photos of Garchomp and Spritzee and Kalos Pokemon alike.

He missed them. He missed her. He missed Delia, rather like you would miss the times when you didn't have a toothache.

He looked ahead of him in the line again and sighed. "One would think having my regional academic license would give us some perks, but I suppose with Rocket running about in this region it is a bit too much to ask for, no?" This time, Augustus looked down at a little hooded figure. They tightened

their grip on his fingers. He smiled, even though they couldn't see it.

"Don't worry, Ai," he said, voice soft. "We're almost there. You're going to meet Ash soon, all right?"

They looked up and bright purple eyes flickered blue. Then, Ai nodded and looked down once more.

Professor Sycamore did not look away. It took more than a fancy eye color to frighten him nowadays. He merely smiled again and took another step in line.

Just a few more hours in customs, then the bus to Pallet. Just a few more hours.

The papers in his briefcase felt absurdly heavy.

* * *

"Lea, jump!"

The Charmander backpedaled, making to leap from a pink and purple mass of energy. He twisted, and the power threw him by the tail and bottom in a failed somersault. He hit the ground and groaned in pain, eyes swirling with dizziness. Ash grimaced, her own vision starting to spin. She stepped back, squeezing her eyes shut and pulling the two of them apart from the nerves and beyond.

"Ember!" She shouted with as much fervor as possible, like it meant more.

"Thunder Punch." The responding command was only verbal for her sake. The electricity had crackled before the words had come out and Kadabra was already rushing forward.

Ash was so busy trying to combat the headache that she couldn't say where to dodge. Lea's shrieking filled the air until there was a loud thump. At the smell of singed scales, her eyes snapped open and she bolted forward, soon cradling Lea's head in her hands. She grimaced. "Sorry, Lea…"

Her charmander waved a weary claw of acknowledgement. He wasn't angry. She hardly ever knew him to get mad, which went against what little she knew about Fire types with Flying genes in their system. they usually had a bit of a temper problem. She supposed that she had just gotten lucky in that sense. She picked him up by his armpits and changed her hold so she could cradle him like a small child. He looped his stubby arms about her neck and she smiled at the fuzz feelings tickling her stomach and heart. he warmth of his tail only made it better.

Two years together, two years since she had scraped a high grade (that wouldn't fly now, her Auntie Sabrina was a gym leader and therefore intelligence wasn't just a requirement, but an expectation) and gotten the odd little egg. It had hatched into such a sweetheart. That was good because…

_Gone. Her head was full of straw at least and then it was empty._

Ash rubbed her head, pushing the thoughts back, compartmentalizing the headache with the thoughts of failure. She had lost concentration and gotten too excited. She needed to relax a little more. Think about other things, like training, like the League.

But the first gym was Pewter, rocks and stones and expecting nature to weather it. She needed to counter that. Lea needed Metal Claw, or she needed a Mankey or a Nidoran. She couldn't go against one of Brock's legendary Onix and expect to get out unscathed. Not that anyone really could unless they had Bulbasaur or Squirtle, an all that took was a nice good unsettling smash of a tail and that advantage was gone. Gary and Leaf were going to be lucky during that one, maybe. After that, Leaf would be the better off.

But whatever. She could make it work. That was all she could do. She just had to-

"You're overthinking."

Ash straightened. "Sorry, Auntie." She took a deep breath then exhaled. She stilled and breathed. In and out. In and out. Close your eyes. Focus on the the image in your mind. She exhaled, thinking of reds and oranges, thinking of them becoming a solid color. She breathed slowly, watching mental embers spark, watching the sky burn in her head

When she opened her eyes again, she could almost see what she had wanted to for herself. She would be a small, persistent ember that survived any wind and storm, that grew into a blaze that ate anything in its path, that Lea could devour and bellow out from his gullet and make her anew into who she should be and-

Ash opened her eyes and straightened up. "I almost saw it, Auntie!"

"Good." Tthe limited praise was enough to bring a brighter grin to her face than the lights in the room. "Then why did you stop?"

Ash raised her head and huffed. "Because it's time for chores!" Her Aunt Sabrina had slammed the routine in her head enough over these past few years. Train, meditate, chores, eat, study, train, study, sleep and repeat. It was almost enough to keep her visions from peeking back into her head. Almost. It wasn't like they could just go away.

Sabrina almost smiled. "Are you certain that it's time for chores?" At Ash tilting her head, she did laugh, outright. That was enough to make Ash step back a little. Her auntie didn't just laugh out of the blue. She watched with trepidation as her aunt pulled a pink light from thin air. It formed into a simply wrapped box. "Isn't today a little different?" She floated the box over and Ash caught it. Her eyes slowly went wide as her aunt laughed, taking pity on her. "Happy Birthday, Ash."

Ash stared for a moment at the large box. Then her eyes went wide and she leaped up into the air, almost a whole foot. "I'm ten!" Her voice almost squeaked with delight. "I'm ten! I get to go to the League! I can apply for the League!"

Lea let out a confused croon and Ash scooped him up the second she hit the ground again. "We get to go on an adventure, Lea! We're gonna make an all new team and become the best of the best, together!"

Lea still looked puzzled, but the fire-type nosed Ash at the feeling of her enthusiasm. That was enough to her and she spun them around more, letting Lea's tail make smoke in the air.

"Well, you have to get registered first," mused Sabrina. "But, if you would rather dance around the arena all day, be my guest."

Ash jolted. "Ahhhh, you're right, I have gotta clean up and get dressed!" she made to run out of the room before pausing at the box she had dropped. "Ah, auntie, that's…"

"Your birthday gift, from me. Your mother wants to give you hers in person," Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to open it?"

Ash slowed to a halt. "Ah… yeah… sorry!" she hurried over to it, and carefully began to undo the paper and tape. There was more than one box, she realized. There was a lot in this… she picked up the first and unfolded…

"A dress!" She tried not to frown. She liked dresses, but she had always just preferred jeans for training, especially with the robes psychics had to wear every single day. Her aunt was a taskmaster after all. Granted, she bet money this was no ordinary outfit but still. She ran her fingers over the soft eggshell white and sky blue, marveling at how soft it felt. Then Ash's eyes went wide as she caught sight of the tag and the leggings just below. This was a _battle outfit._ This was the outfit you caught Leaders and Elite in on the cover of magazines. It was part and parcel of the ace trainer brand, what made you stand out no matter how many fights you did in regular clothes.

"I expect you to adjust to that," Sabrina supplied, almost chuckling at the hem of each sleeve and fabric piece. "for now, the next one."

Ash obediently opened it, moving to quickly fold the first outfit back up as neatly as she could with her shaking fingers. She grinned at the sight of jean fabric. Much better. Trainer clothes, rough fabric prepared for night after night of sleeping under the stars. The clothes were even loose enough and the jeans were softer than she remembered her Viridian clothes being. There, next to the trainer belt, was a box with the Devon logo. She pulled it out and blinked. "the pokeNav looks funny." never mind that she had a PokeNav period. Communicators were a standard for trainers after the disappearance of Aurea Juniper blasted over every regional news station. She betthis was still a pretty penny. "I thought we still get PokeGears," she said.

Her aunt shook her head. "Silph and Devon are in a partnership at the moment, so they're trying to expand brands to other regions to connect the technology. Cross-compatibility for phone devices has caused too much havoc."

"Oh." Perhaps all of her studying with her mom's abra was paying off. With a sudden, renewed burst of energy, she tackled Sabrina. "Thank you, auntie!"

Sabrina went stiff, psychic energy threatening to lash out. Then she relaxed and her arms looped around the younger girl. "You're welcome." Feeling Ash freeze up with shock almost made her smile. Sabrina was not known for her affection, particularly the physical kind. She had no real inclination towards it (more of one towards insanity if her mom wasn't exaggerating), so Ash decided to enjoy it while she could.

Then Lea pawed at her leg and Ash pulled away to scoop him up. She scratched at the patterns of his scales. He had hatched this way, all splotchy and different, and she wouldn't trade him for the world.

She stood there with her aunt and her friend, thinking to herself, trying to breathe this in, to memorize it. Because once the journey began, there was no guarantee she would get to experience this again any time soon, if again. After all, the next time she would officially see her aunt, it would be as an opponent. There would be no softness, no mercy.

That was a terrifying thought.

So Ash enjoyed what she had. The future was coming no matter what she did anyway.

* * *

Hunger.

Hunger drove any surviving creature forward, heavy with the burden of simply wanting to live.

This creature was no different. It moved on its hind paws, forepaws bleeding into the thin early route grasses. He kept walking, cheek pouches twitching. His long ears drooped dangerously close to the earth.

It was close. So close.

Eventually. He would make it. To food. To drink, to sleep. And then, when he survived, it would be to break that bastard human's nose.

See if they put him through those paces ever again.

Pikachu reached the sweet smell of his target, reds and blues and plastic. Without hesitation, he bit down.

Something proceeded to explode.


End file.
